The Obama Effect can be seen in the streets of Tehran. Though outspoken Iranian President Ahmadinejad was re-elected last weekend, the ensuing demonstrations by supporters of reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi reflect a growing awareness, in Iranian communities, of an alternative, more moderate approach to gaining inclusion in the world community.

Though the hard-liners still outnumber the reformers, this week's large demonstrations suggest that freedom of expression in Iran is of a level we in the west might have underestimated.

Although there were incidents of violence, when compared to similar demonstrations here in the US, the authorities in Iran were seen to exercise considerable restraint.

In the streets of Tehran, Washington Post correspondent Roger Cohen was able to interview citizens from both camps. What he found suggests that Iran, like the US under President Bush, is divided. Those who favor Ahmadinejad tend to be more critical of the US and its policies in the region, and see Ahmadinejad's hard line approach as the safest way to confront the west. The reformers, on the other hand, see Ahmadinejad in the same way that many Americans viewed President Bush; embarrassed by his crude language and tired of being laughed at and spurned by much of the world community. 

When right-wing pundits in the West accuse Ahmadinejad of stealing the election, they are merely projecting their experiences under Bush. Indeed, according to polling funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and conducted by an award-winning organization, the election results in Iran are no surprise at all.

Not surprising either is the level of cluelessness that has accompanied  much of the west's media coverage of the Iranian elections. Rather, it strongly suggests that the Cheney dictum "we don't talk to our enemies" was pure foolishness.

© 2009 Timothy O. Villard - 6/17/09

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